. in turn she concentrated most of her fire upon the battleships pol ##ta ##va and ts ##esa ##re ##vich although both ships were only lightly damaged by the japanese shells , which generally failed to penetrate any armour and detonated on impact . the ship made the critical hits of the battle , however , when two of her 12 @ - @ inch shells struck the bridge of ts ##esa ##re ##vich , killing the russian squadron commander , vice admiral wil ##gel ##m vi ##t ##ge ##ft , two of his staff officers and the ship ' s quartermaster . the ship ' s wheel was jammed to port by wreckage and then slowed to a halt which threw the rest of the russian ships
. in turn she concentrated most of her fire upon the battleships poltava and tsesarevich although both ships were only lightly damaged by the japanese shells, which generally failed to penetrate any armour and detonated on impact. the ship made the critical hits of the battle, however, when two of her 12 @ - @ inch shells struck the bridge of tsesarevich, killing the russian squadron commander, vice admiral wilgelm vitgeft, two of his staff officers and the ship's quartermaster. the ship's wheel was jammed to port by wreckage and then slowed to a halt which threw the rest of the russian ships